Marital Bliss
by redlettergirl
Summary: "It is a well known fact that Fire Lord Zuko hates his wife, Lady Mai." The relationship between Zuko and Mai, through the eyes of a child.


It is a well known fact that Fire Lord Zuko hates his wife, Lady Mai. She is cold—_frigid_, the other attendants say in that strange way adults do—and Na Li is inclined to agree. In all her years as a servant to the royal family, Lady Mai has always worn the same expression, blank and bored. The other girls once tricked her into believing Lady Mai was cursed, turned to moving stone by a witch, and the way Lady Mai is, Na Li had no reason not to believe them. Even now, as wise as she has become with the coming of her sixth birthday, she still wonders if maybe they were more correct than even they knew.

But Fire Lord Zuko is even scarier, that Na Li knows for sure. That's why now, as she sets down his freshly laundered robes and finds him glaring down at her, she wastes no time in bowing to both him and Lady Mai and skittering quickly from the room.

Something, however, keeps her from going further than that. Curiosity, definitely. The only time she's ever heard of Lord Zuko and Lady Mai being in a room together is at formal royal events, and she's certainly never iseen/i it for herself. Despite all the warnings the other servants had given

("Make sure she knows to get in and out as quickly as possible. I've heard tell that the stress has been getting to him as of late,") she leaves one thin crack between the door and the frame as she shuts it, and peeks inside.

Once, when Na Li was really little and had been brought to Ember Island to provide towels and lemon cider to the royal entourage, the vacation had been promptly ruined by a vicious ocean storm. The whole day before it struck, people had muttered to each other about it, watching the black as black clouds with nervous eyes. She remembers the feeling well, and recognizes it instantly: Fire Lord Zuko's chamber is filled with it.

Lady Mai stands at the window, brushing out her pretty black hair and, true to her cold nature, not paying any attention to her husband. She is even colder than Na Li once thought; she shifts her shoulder about (and Na Li isn't sure why; it doesn't help with the hair-brushing at all), and when the strap of her nightgown slips off, she doesn't even bother to replace it. How mechanical, not to notice something like that!

Fire Lord Zuko—and she can just barely see him, spread out on the far side of their bed and half hidden by the canvas—shifts, and Na Li jumps, fearing discovery. However, he merely lifts a hand, turning it about in the air as if in inspection. Meanwhile, Lady Mai sighs, sounding more irritated than normal (though Na Li supposes her idea of _normal_ could just be off). She sets the brush down, rests a hand against the dresser, and doesn't seem to care at all when her other strap starts to slide away.

A blast of fire shoots past her, catching the slipping fabric, and Na Li has to cover her mouth to keep from crying out in terror.

"Knock it off, already," says the Fire Lord, practically spitting, and Na Li instinctively shrinks away. "I'm not in the mood for games. If you're going to do something, do it."

Lady Mai doesn't do anything for a long time. The fabric at her shoulder burns through, coming apart and letting the top of her nightgown fall open. Silence follows; silence, apprehension, and the sight of Lady Mai's back as she unflinchingly faces the window.

An instant later, Na Li is only able to see Lady Mai's hand shoot to the dresser before, with an angry thunk, a set of blades bury themselves in the bed's mahogany-oak headboard.

The storm hits in an instant. As Na Li clamps both hands over her mouth to keep from screaming, the Fire Lord retaliates with a dragon's rage; she is sure the fire that blasts from his fingers singes her eyebrows. Lady Mai, however, faces it full on. Twisting about in a way that resembles nothing of her usual brick and ice self, she dodges, shooting toward the bed and the furious Fire Lord. In the next second, another set of knives join the first two, taking the Fire Lord's sleeves with them. When Na Li can comprehend the situation again, Lady Mai is standing on the bed, looking as disinterested as ever, her foot set precisely against her husband's throat.

Na Li doesn't know what to do. The Fire Lord's life is in danger! Surely, she should call the royal guard! But what if Lady Mai heard her? The Lady would have no problem breaking through the door and then there would be nothing between them and and and—!

Then, slowly, Lady Mai smiles, and the phenomenon is entrancing."Don't ask for what you can't handle."

In comparison to the way she was darting about before, Lady Mai moves particularly slowly now, lifting her foot from the Fire Lord's neck and kneeling with one knee on either side of him. Na Li recognizes this; it's a move that the servant boys use during duels (which they like to pretend are Agni Kais, and get boxed about the ears for it) so the person they're fighting can't move. How strange it is to see Lady Mai doing it. Did she learn to duel with boys?

The intact strap of her nightgown slips again, and this time she seems to decide she's had enough. Pulling her arm out from under it, she let's the front of the gown fall away, and Na Li stifles a gasp against her small fist. She really must have learned to fight from boys—ladies are never supposed to do that, but boys do all the time.

The Fire Lord jerks at his sleeves, trying to pull his hands back. His breathing is heavy, and Na Li wonders at his endurance. The firebenders she knows never get winded that easily.

"What're you gonna do, Zuko?" Lady Mai asks, taunts him by flicking a finger beneath his chin. Then, quietly, she leans over and kisses him, and Na Li relaxes a little. Maybe Lady Mai doesn't hate him so much—that's a pretty wifely thing to do, after all.

Then flames burst out against the headboard, fabric tears, the Fire Lord's hands are free, latching onto Lady Mai's back. Launching both of them upright, he fixes her with a glare, growls in irritation. Then his mouth is on her neck and Lady Mai groans in pain and he-he—oh no! He's ieating/i her! He's going to kill Lady Mai!

And with a shriek on her lips, Na Li runs to get the guards. They really _do_ hate each other!


End file.
